Quote from Alex bobby on November 28, 2023, 6:05 AM

A temporary truce between Israel and Hamas has been extended  for two more days, the key mediator Qatar announced on Monday, which would have been the final day of the cease-fire.

In the fourth swap under the original four-day truce, 11 Israeli hostages, all women and children, were released from Hamas captivity Monday night in the Gaza Strip. Early Tuesday, 33 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons were freed and driven to the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

The truce deal has brought more shipments of fuel and supplies into Gaza — although aid groups say that barely makes a dent in the needs of the 2.3 million Palestinians who have endured weeks of Israeli siege and bombardment.

Monday’s releases bring the number of Israelis freed to 50, along with 19 hostages of other nationalities. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons.

Roughly 240 hostages were captured by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that ignited the war. One was freed by Israeli forces and two were found dead inside Gaza.

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two thirds of them women and minors, according to the Hamas controlled Health Ministry in Gaza. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israel’s ground offensive. Currently: As freed hostages return to Israel, 

FREED PALESTINIAN PRISONERS ARRIVE IN WEST BANK CITY

A Red Cross bus carrying Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah early Tuesday. Israel’s prison service said it was releasing 33 Palestinian prisoners in the fourth such release as part of the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The prisoners were greeted by cheering crowds who surrounded the bus as it made its way through the streets of the West Bank city. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons.

THREE OF THE NEW HOSTAGES RELEASED FROM GAZA ARE FRENCH CITIZENS

France says three of the hostages released from Gaza on Monday were French citizens, all three children. France welcomes the liberation of three of its children today: Eitan, Erez and Sahar,’’ the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement. ‘’They are now in security in Israel. We share the relief of their families and all those who mobilised for their freedom.’’

France thanked Egypt and the ICRC and for mediation efforts and Qatar for its ‘’decisive role’’ in the release, and said the French government is ‘’working tirelessly’’ to free five other French citizens held hostage. France’s president, foreign minister and defence minister have traveled to the region to push for the release of the hostages.

French media has identified the three children hostages as Franco-Israeli citizens Eitan Yahalomi, 12, Erez Calderon, 12, and Sahar Calderon, 16.

US SECRETARY OF STATE TO VISIT ISRAEL AND WEST BANK THIS WEEK

BRUSSELS — U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return this week to the Middle East for the third time since Israel’s war with Hamas began, a senior State Department official said Monday.

Blinken will travel to Israel and the West Bank after attending Ukraine-focused meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels and Skopje, Macedonia, where foreign ministers from NATO and the Organization for Peace and Security in Europe are gathering, the official said. The official spoke to reporters traveling with Blinken on condition of anonymity ahead a form State Department announcement.

11 MORE HOSTAGES RELEASED BY HAMAS ARE BACK IN ISRAEL

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says 11 hostages have been released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip late Monday This is the fourth such release under a cease-fire deal with the Hamas military group. Israel is to free 33 Palestinian prisoners later Monday. The hostages were back on Israeli territory and undergoing initial medical checks before being reunited with their families.

The cease-fire had been set to expire early Tuesday. But Qatar, which has been mediating between the sides, said Israel and Hamas had agreed to extend the truce by two more days. Israeli media said the hostages included two women and nine children. Two of the children are 3 years old.

200 AID TRUCKS ENTER GAZA, ISRAEL SAYS

JERUSALEM - Around 200 container trucks brought humanitarian aid into Gaza on Monday after being inspected by Israel, including a small amount of fuel, according to the Israeli military body that handles civilian affairs. Four containers carrying diesel fuel and four containers carrying cooking gas were transferred from Egypt to U.N. humanitarian aid organisation’s in the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing,” COGAT said in a statement.

The aid trucks brought “food, water, shelter equipment, and medical supplies,” the statement said.

SUSPECT ARRESTED IN SHOOTING OF 3 MEN OF PALESTINIAN DESCENT NEAR UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT

Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent who were attending a Thanksgiving holiday gathering near the University of Vermont campus. Agents arrested Jason J. Eaton while conducting a search of the shooting area in Burlington on Sunday, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement.

Authorities collected evidence during a search of Eaton’s apartment in a building in front of the shooting location. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, police said. Online court records did not list an attorney who could speak on Eaton’s behalf.

The attack that injured the three men on Saturday may have been a hate crime, authorities previously said. Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered “much more serious injuries,” Burlington police said Sunday.

HEZBOLLAH WILL COMPENSATE LEBANESE WHOSE HOMES WERE DAMAGED BY ISRAEL, LAWMAKER SAYS

BEIRUT — A senior Hezbollah legislator said Monday that the Iran-backed group will compensate Lebanese whose homes along the Lebanon-Israel border were damaged by Israeli shelling and strikes.

Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops have clashed along the border since Oct. 8, stoking fears that the Hamas-Israel war in the Gaza Strip will spill over into the rest of the region. Though the clashes have been intense, with both combatants and civilians killed on both sides, they have remained largely contained to areas near the border. Hezbollah was not officially a party to the four-day truce between Hamas and Israel that took effect Friday, but calm has largely prevailed on the Lebanon-Israel border since then.

“What we are offering those affected is money and the efforts and capabilities of Hezbollah, and that is part of our battle,” said parliament member Hassan Fadlallah, who made the announcement at an event honouring a slain Hezbollah militant in the border town of Aita al-Shaab. Fadlallah said the group surveyed most of the damaged areas in southern Lebanon, widely seen as a political and military stronghold for the group. Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006 that ended in a draw. Israel sees Hezbollah as its most direct threat and estimates that the group has about 150,000 precision-guided missiles pointed at it

GERMANY TO HELP RECONSTRUCT HAMAS-DESTROYED COMMUNITIES IN ISRAEL

BERLIN — Germany says it will provide financial support for the reconstruction of communities destroyed by Hamas in Israel.

During a visit on Monday to Kibbutz Beeri, which was brutally attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his country would provide 7 million euros ($7.6 million) for the kibbutz in 2024. The money is for reconstruction of a cultural centre and a meeting centre for senior citizens, German news agency dpa reported. It is far too early to think about reconstruction now,” Steinmeier said during his visit, adding that nonetheless many residents who are currently staying elsewhere in Israel are already thinking about returning to Beeri.

“Beeri and the many other kibbutzim deserve not only to be part of Israeli history, but above all to be part of Israel’s future,” the German president said.